What Once Was
by Katherine Austen
Summary: Slightly AU look at Peter and Elle, what happened during the four months before he was discovered in Ireland and what secrets did they share? [Elle x Peter pairing]
1. Chapter 1

AN: Okay this is a random thing I started writing for a handful of my friends and it was only going to be a oneshot but so many ideas came forward in my mind and now it's a chapter fic. This first chapter is short and pretty much drabble. It's just touching on events and is mainly from Elle's POV. It's AU because its just me making up what happened during the four months prior to Ireland. Also, AU because its my theories on Elle's family and what not, and so unless that comes true on the show...AU in fic for now. Everything will be revealed with time in this fic :) It's kinda random at first but hopefully you will enjoy!

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She accepted the mission with no hesitation.

She loved him. As much as she tried now to pretend everything that happened was just a dream, an illusion...she couldn't.

It happened too quickly.

One minute they were ready to run away together, the next...he was gone.

She wasn't supposed to fall in love with him. Her job was to torture him, find his breaking point, get him to crack and do everything her father wished and then some. The Company (and even her father) were pleased by her work and praised her regularly. Her father's esteem was something she craved & needed. She rarely met his affections and though he lavished her with fancy things, it was more so that he did it out of guilt for the past than actual love and affection for his daughter.

_"Bella," her father stated, firm and emotionless._

_She turned, her curls whipping her pink cheeks as her tap shoes clinked into the tile of the kitchen._

_"Yes Daddy?" she asked softly._

_"She Mister Rynault what you can do," her father smiled, wickedly._

_Elle nodded, lifting her hand and twisting her wrist as electricity flowed from her hand._

_"Bleedin' Brilliant," Mister Rynault gasped. "People would pay 'til their pockets empty to see such a sight!"_

_"And they will," her father stated. _

She was always comfortable with her abilities...perhaps only because she HAD to be, but her wicked obsession with torturing individuals with her power seemingly stemmed from the years of playing her father's puppet. His face turned to a smirk whenever he watched her and she felt wanted and needed. Her wicked ways were the only thing that ever gained her father's praise.

Until Peter Petrelli came along.

He didn't scream. He didn't cry out as volts and volts of electricity fried his flesh and shook his body, saliva foaming and falling from his mouth. He gave a grunt after she moved away and stood over his steaming body, his charred skin slowly returning to soft pink flesh.

This annoyed her at first, but quickly turned to admiration. He did not speak, he rarely ate...he simply existed alone, quietly in his cell.

Weeks later the security cams were constantly being replaced. The Company regulars blamed the faulty wiring as every morning Elle would slip into his cell, fry the cameras and kneel before him.

He began speaking to her, began falling for her, and began feeling her pain as she felt his.

Even now, she could not forget the taste of his lips or the feeling of his warm body against hers.

Torturing him was one thing. It gave her a wicked sense of satisfaction at first...until she loved him and couldn't bear to hurt him, and especially because nothing on earth could top sleeping with him. His kisses on her neck and the euphoria of coming down after her got her off time and time again.

She had them all fooled. Her father however wasn't as convinced when he found her kneeling in the bathroom three months after Petrelli had become their 'property'. She blamed the stomach bug going around and he grabbed her firmly by her shoulders and stared her in the eye. That was the second time in her life that she shocked her father, her rage overcoming her mind as she remembered he could easily heal himself and move on.

Before she could react, he had her drugged and made into a human science project yet again.

When she awoke her world had fall apart at the seams. Peter was gone, his escape assisted by one who turned against the company, his memory stolen...he had no idea who she was, or how he loved her or where they were going to go.

She weakly stood and pulled the IV from her hand without flinching.

He was gone and the life she once carried had faded to nothing. Her dreams shattered into tiny, non repairable pieces and she fell to her knees.

"You're not weak," she muttered to herself, as the door to her room swung open. She stood, taking deep breaths and staring into the blue eyes of her father.

"You're going to Ireland," he stated.

Elle's eyes narrowed, how could he speak to her with no remorse, no compassion?

"For?"

He placed a picture in her hands.

"Petrelli, bring him back here."

Elle looked at her father in confusion.

"I trust you not to fool around this time. I've done everything in my power to cover for you and so this is how you will repay me. You will go to Ireland; you will retrieve him and bring him back. You will not embarrass me or turn your back on those who have supported us here. As a matter of fact you will shock me by how flawlessly you follow procedure and bring him home on time, in one peace and without all of the so called romance and other games you previously played. "

Elle sighed, "I knew you'd never understand."

"There's no point in trying to explain now, what's done is done. What once was is no longer a reality."

She was on a plane to Ireland three days later, his picture in her pocket like a painful reminder of what once was, yet she couldn't help but wonder what could be.

Loving Peter Petrelli broke her, so now, she could only pretend he wasn't the man who made her feel whole again. He was simply a mission and no more.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Upped the rating on this fic due to sexual situations in this chapter. You've been warned!

* * *

He didn't have his memories, but he had her. He dreamt of her every time he closed his eyes. He dreamt of her the entire time he was chained up in the shipping container. Blue eyes that sparkled like diamonds every time her lips upturned to a smile. He read her emotions through her eyes and he felt her sorrow, contracted her smiles and absorbed her laughter.

_"We can go anywhere you'd like," the blonde stated, her blue eyes sparkling along with her smile._

_"Anywhere with you is fine," he grinned as he pulled her into his lap._

_"Oh come on...THAT was so sappy," she laughed playfully tapping his cheek._

_"This coming from the girl who shot lightning bolts through my body for two weeks to get me to come onto her," he winked._

_"Shut up!" she laughed._

_"I'm thinking...Europe? Mexico?"_

_"Canada?" He suggested._

_"Oh! Yes, Canada could work too!"_

_"Canada then, let's settle on Canada."_

_"I can get your passport, tickets...we'll get out of here. I...have something for you," the blonde stated, removing a photograph from the back of her pants._

_He stared at the image. "Thank you," he said as he choked back his emotion. It was him, in a suit with another man in a suit. Who was he? In the dream, he knew exactly who it was. In the dream, he knew the girl and touched her face softly._

_"I'm alright now," he said softly. "I have you two," he said as he smiled, touching her stomach gently._

_"I'm sorry everything happened like this, Peter. But I'll never hurt you again, and I'll never let anyone else either."_

_"I love you, Elle," he said._

_"I love you, Peter..."_

"Peter! Peter wake up!"

Peter shot up, his eyes darting around the dimly lit room.

"You were smilin'," came a voice towards the back of the room.

"I didn't know smiling was a reason to wake someone from a dream," Peter half laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck to relieve some tension.

"I was hopin' you'd have a memory to share," the voice said as it stepped forward into the light. Caitlin, the Irish girl he had gotten involved with in recent days.

"Nothing. I don't even know what I was dreaming about," Peter lied.

"Shame. Perhaps it's time then t'open the box?"

"No," Peter said, shaking his head.

"Alright then," Caitlin shrugged.

"Come here," Peter smirked, pulling her in for a kiss.

"Right then you think a kiss will soften the blow?" Caitlin laughed. "You've got your life there layin' waitin' for ya in that box and I'm anxious t'see the contents!"

"Soften the blow? You'd think your life was in the box."

"Might as well be the way m'heart is racin' so!"

Peter pulled Caitlin close and quieted her curiosity with a passionate kiss that left her breathless and begging for more as she firmly placed her lips against his as if to say she couldn't get enough. Yet even has he kissed Caitlin and she melted in his arms, he could not stop thinking of the perky blonde and her million dollar smile, and suddenly he couldn't get the image of kissing her out of his mind.

* * *

Her flight seemed endless. Her iPod was no longer entertaining and the in flight movie was boring her to tears. Even her third vodka tonic did nothing for her. She rested her palm against the ice cold pane of the window, trying to find traces of anything in the darkness. Occasionally she saw the blip of the lights at the end of the plane's wing. She had no idea what she was looking for in the sky...but nothing made sense in her life anymore, and she was beginning to be fine with the revelation. 

Even the fancy lie-flat seats in first class, she couldn't get comfortable. She tossed, turned, sighed, rolled her eyes, shot electricity at a carton of milk to try the old "warm milk" trick...but it wasn't until she stared at his face in the photograph she had on her that she felt a rush of needed comfort.

"_Someone being defiant today?"_

"_Uh, when aren't I?"_

"_Good point."_

"_I thought you weren't going to scramble the security cams any longer."_

"_There's a chunky guy they're running tests on here. He has some power dealing with electronics. He begged me for some Kit-Kat bars and a Hustler magazine. I delivered so he's working your cam on a loop from three cells over simply by putting his hand on a light switch. Nice, right?" _

"_So no one can see us right now?" Peter smirked._

"_Would I do this?" Elle asked before placing a fervor laced kiss on his lips, kissing him as if she was pulling his last breath from his chest. His fingers lid under the cotton of her shirt, his fingertips tracing the pale, silky skin upwards until they rested under the elastic of her bra before moving forward to her chest, causing a whimper from her lips. He paused for a moment, before she begged him not to stop, not to stop EVER. _

_He pulled away to tease the skin of her neck with his teeth, tangling her hair in his fingers to pull her head to the side to expose the smooth, soft skin, tainting it with faint teeth marks and sloppy kisses. Her hands tugged at the ties of his over starched white pants as he took the action as a hint to work the button of her jeans. _

_Eagerly she tugged his pants from his hips and wriggled her own hips quickly to escape from her jeans. His hand slipped under the black lace of her panties as the gasped at his cool fingertips tracing her warmth. _

_She shimmed closer to him and he turned to pin her against the wall, his erection against her thigh as he removed his hand from her sex to peel her panties down, lifting her tiny frame to drive himself into her. Her forehead fell into his shoulder as ecstasy ravaged her body. It was as if the corrupt world around them had fallen at their feet and they were the only people left, their bodies meeting in a perfect, sensual harmony. It seemed like eternities, moments passing slowly s her drove himself into her until her body relaxed in his arms and her muscles tightened around his length. He pumped through her orgasm, his pace quickening until he finally climaxed._

_She listened to the quick, low breathing in her ears and shut her eyes. This was what it felt like to love, and be loved in return. _

_Her legs were weak as he set her down and she leaned into him, burying her face in his chest and inhaling his pheromones as he rested his chin on the top of her head._

"_I don't know how much longer we should keep doing this," he muttered._

"_Why?" she asked, moving her head to look him in the eyes._

"_They're notice that there's something up with my cameras. Your Dad will be onto us, I know it. I'm just concerned about your safety I guess."_

"_Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself. My Dad doesn't scare me." _

"_He terrifies you. I know he does, Elle."_

"_Bob doesn't terrify me. He's nothing to worry about. It's my FATHER you have to worry about and he's never around." She backed away from him grabbing her clothes up and quickly getting dressed. "I can't just...stop this."_

"_Your safety is important to me."_

"_Peter, getting you out of here is important. Don't you want to tell your Mom you're alright?"_

"_I can't face my mother, please don't bring her up. It's my fault Nathan is dead and...there's nothing out there for me, alright?" _

"_Out there means we can actually have a chance at something."_

_Peter sighed, "I can't let someone else die because of me. You turn your back on the Company and we'll be running for the rest of our lives."_

"_You know what? Fuck you! Alright? You can't do this to me! I let my guard down, I fell for you and now you're STOPPING THIS? I don't know...what kinda girl you think I am but..."_

"_Elle..." Peter soothed, taking her face into his hands._

"_Don't," she sighed, biting at the inside of her cheek so she wouldn't cry. She didn't want to appear weaker than she already did._

"_I'm not just...stopping. You think I can just turn this off? I'm going to look at you and want you, need you but I need to know more importantly that you're safe!"_

"_Peter, I'm pregnant." _

"_...what?"_

"_Pregnant, you know...with child? Having a baby?"_

"_...this..."_

"_Please don't do the whole this can't happen, how, why, woe is me thing because that's so cheesy lifetime movie and I really don't wanna do cheesy lifetime movie right now. We have sex...fairly regularly. And well...things happen! Like me being late...and not to work...and the fact that neither of us actually think before we do and well...there you have it." _

"_I'm so sorry."_

"_Don't be sorry. I'm, I'm okay with this so you need to be okay with this too."_

She awoke to the sound of shuffling and the sun in her eyes. Who the hell opened her window? She groaned and rolled onto her back, adjusting her seat to the upright position and shaking her loose locks before running her fingers through.

"We'll be landing in twenty minutes, seatbelt signs are on," a flight attendant said softly, smiling at Elle so wide it made Elle nauseas. "Do you need anything, love?"

"Uh, a mimosa."

"Sure thing," the flight attendant nodded before heading down the walkway.

After her Mimosa and a battle through the baggage claim, Elle claimed a rental car and found herself at the Cork docks, surveying the area for any sign of Peter and his whereabouts.

Luckily, she found a snitch who was willing to tell her everything he knew and even Peter's possible location. Elle's confidence grew as she took in the details of the lead.

"'Ey! If he's so dangerous sweetheart, why'd they send a lil' girl like you in all alone?"

Elle couldn't help but smirk, "I can take care of myself," she said as she turned the corner, tracing the side of the cargo container with electrical currents.

Despite her small stature and innocent look, Elle was anything but a weak little girl. Though if one were to watch her in the presence of Peter, they might be able to argue that. Before Peter, he guard was up constantly, years of mental anguish and verbal abuse lead her to have wall that no one ever bothered to scale. She was content with her 'family' at the Company and felt she needed no one else. It was Peter that turned her world upside down, melted her heart and made her feel worth something. Before all that mattered to her was her career and of course, making her biological father's praise. She constantly had the esteem of Bob, one of the Company's number one men, who had acted for years as a surrogate father to her. In his eyes, she could do no wrong...thought he rare times he did need to scold her, he was the only person she wouldn't shoot a lightning bolt through if upset.

When she was young, there was another man that she held in the highest regards, but through the years their relationship existed only as a "fellow employee" sort and not the nearly father/daughter relationship that once was.

"_This is Noah Bennet, Elle," her biological father nodded. "He's a good man, works very hard for this company and he's promised to look out for you."_

"_You're going away?" she asked._

"_Things to do."_

"_Okay," Elle nodded solemnly. It shouldn't have shocked her the way it did, the sinking feeling growing in the pit of her stomach._

"_Hi Elle," Noah Bennet smiled as he leaned before her. "I heard you just turned seven."_

"_Yep," Elle nodded._

"_That's a very nice age to be." _

"_I guess," Elle shrugged, as she peered over Noah's shoulder at her father. He was arguing with Bob again, and the only word she could make out was money. Typical. _

"_What do you like to do Elle?"_

"_I don't know," Elle shrugged. At that moment, Claude Raines made his way through, patting the girls head as he walked by and giving her a wink. Bob shook his head as Elle's father stormed off smiling down at the girl as Noah stood._

"_I'm not the best with children," Noah laughed nervously, speaking in a hushed tone to Bob._

"_Elle isn't like most kids," Bob laughed._

_Elle watched a moth out of the corner of her eye, before sending a bolt of electricity in its direction, leaving a tiny carcass in her wake after a moment._

"_Well, that's obvious," Noah chuckled. _

"_Things haven't exactly been easy for her I assume. Years of shuffling about, but she has a confidence in her powers that makes me beam with pride," Bob whispered._

"_Mister Bennet?" Elle said, turning her head to stare up at him._

"_You can call me Noah now, I don't mind." _

"_I'd like an ice cream bar."_

Countless ice cream bars came and went. Troubles with her father, sister, continued understanding of her powers, Noah was always there. She's skip into his office with a grin on her face and tell him how she'd get anyone to spill all their secrets with a solid stream to the chest. Noah was often out on the field, but he'd come back with a bear for every location he had been to for Elle. For years, her daddy issues subsided and she felt reassured in so many aspects of her life.

Until Noah got a daughter of his own.

"_Who is that?" Elle asked Bob as they watched Noah balance a baby in his arms while going over some information packets._

"_That's Claire," Bob stated. "Noah is going to be adopting her...looking after her for a while if you will."_

"_Oh," Elle muttered. "Is she like me?"_

"_Not quite dear," Bob stated._

_"Her parents are gone?"_

"_You could say that," Bob nodded. "Deals with that fire Noah was investigating."_

"_Oh, fire always makes me think of Meredith," Elle said through a small smile. "Have you heard anything from Meredith?"_

"_Elle, why don't you go see if Angela needs any help, will you?"_

Elle nodded slowly, watching Noah for a moment before she turned to walk down the hall.

Noah's world quickly revolved around tiny Claire and Elle was back in the shadows yet again. As if becoming a pre-teen wasn't awkward enough, now she faced rejection.

Walking between two cargo containers it was as if she was walking that hall again, away from Noah and towards the next decade of a half towards nothing but devotion to the company. At least...again, until Peter.


End file.
